Conventional metallic glasses include Fe—P—C-based metallic glass which was first produced in the 1960s, (Fe, Co, Ni)—P—B-based alloy, (Fe, Co, Ni)—Si—B-based alloy, (Fe, Co, Ni)—(Zr, Hf. Nb)-based alloy and (Fe, Co, Ni)—(Zr, Hf, Nb)—B-based alloy which were produced in the 1970s.
All of the above alloys are essentially subjected to a rapid solidification process at a cooling rate of 104 K/s or more, and an obtained sample is a thin strip having a thickness of 200 μm or less. Between 1988 and 2001, various metallic glass alloys exhibiting high glass forming ability, which have a composition, such as Ln—Al-TM, Mg—Ln-TM, Zr—Al-TM, Pd—Cu—Ni—P, (Fe, Co, Ni)—(Zr, Hf. Nb)—B, Fe—(Al, Ga)—P—B—C, Fe—(Nb, Cr, Mo)—(Al, Ga)—P—B—C, Fe—(Cr, Mo)—Ga—P—B—C, Fe—Co—Ga—P—B—C, Fe—Ga—P—B—C or Fe—Ga—P—B—C—Si (wherein Ln is a rare-earth element, and TM is a transition metal), were discovered. These alloys can be formed as a metallic glass bar having a thickness of 1 mm or more.
The inventor previously filed patent applications concerning a soft magnetic metallic glass alloy of Fe—P—Si—(C, B, Ge)-(group-IIIB metal element, group-IVB metal element) (Patent Publication 1); a soft magnetic metallic glass alloy of (Fe, Co, Ni)—(Zr, Nb, Ta, Hf, Mo, Ti, V)—B (Patent Publication 2); and a soft magnetic metallic glass alloy of Fe—(Cr, Mo)—Ga—P—C—B (Patent Publication 3).
Parent Publication 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-71647
Parent Publication 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 11-131199
Parent Publication 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-316782